Rodri will not make Man City return till coming month

Manchester: Pep Guardiola has revealed that midfielder Rodri of the Man City will not be at full fitness until after September’s international break.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner missed most of last season following ligament damage and without him City failed to ensure a strong defence of their Premier League crown.

The smart Spanish international fought his way back to fitness however suffered a groin injury in City’s defeat to Saudi club Al-Hilal at the Club World Cup in the US last month.

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Guardiola said, in his comments released today, “Rodri’s getting better but he had a big injury in the last game against Al-Hilal and for the last five or six weeks”.

“He’s training right now and in the last two or three days is better. Hopefully maybe the international break is when he will be really, really fit.”

“Hopefully, in the games (prior to that) he can play some minutes but the important thing is to not have pain because we don’t want him to be come back and injured, come back and injured.”

“We will try desperately to avoid that but he’s training the last two or three days with us and that’s good.”

Likewise, Phil Foden and Mateo Kovacic are also under treatment to ensure they are back to fitness. Both players joined Rodri in being left out of a pre-season game in Sicily this week.

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The City face Wolves in their first Premier League game of the season next weekend and then play Tottenham and Brighton before the September internationals.

Meanwhile, the City has confirmed of Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig in a deal reported to be worth up to £74 million, marking a major investment in the club’s attacking options ahead of the new season.

The young striker agreed to a multi-year contract at Old Trafford and is expected to join Manchester United’s pre-season training immediately.